A Strange New Land

by Enrique the Canadian

Chapter 2 Welcome to Ponyville

The collision happened fast. Too fast. Polaris flew through the first layer of the balloon, only to get tangled in the other side. He panicked, trying fervently to escape the thick, deep purple cloth. No matter how hard he tried, however, Polaris was merely trapped tighter by the ever-twisting cloth. One of his wings was pulled free from his side and wrenched outward, sending a sharp jolt of pain through his back. What is this? Polaris frantically thought. He was desperate. Polaris writhed further and harder within his purple-prison. Nothing seemed to work, everything Polaris did made his binding worse. Just as he realized he needs to relax, Polaris hit the ground and there was no more purple. Only black.

Waking with a gasp and a half-scream, Polaris realized with a start that he was alive. A very startled pony stood wide-eyed next to the bed that Polaris found himself in. He quickly realized that this pony standing beside him was a nurse. As his vision slowly returned to him, he noted that she was a white Earth-pony with bright pink hair. Her cutie-mark was a red cross within a light red circle. Polaris looked around. The room he was in was a perfectly clean white. There was a large machine with a lot of pulleys and ropes beside him. Polaris' fore-leg had a hard cast on it, his right wing was extended and attached to the large machine, and his chest was wrapped tightly with bandages. Just then, Polaris realized how sore he was. Almost every part of him had a blunt, yet very present, pain all over his body and he groaned.

The nurse smiled softly and said something to him. Polaris realized this with a start and felt bad that he wasn't listening. "Pardon me?" Polaris asked quietly. He was quite surprised by the sound of his own voice. It was hoarse and sleepy sounding, like it hadn't been used in a while.

"You're awake." The nurse repeated, sounding surprised. "You took quite the fall." She proceeded to inform Polaris of his injuries. He was staring forward, lost in thought, thus he only heard snippets of what the nurse was saying. Did she call herself Redheart? Broken right fore-leg... Some broken ribs... Concussion... Broken right wing... Traction for three weeks... What? No. Polaris couldn't believe it. He didn't have three weeks, he HAD to go today! Polaris tried to sit up but every fibre of his being screamed at him to stop. Nurse Redheart noticed this and gently eased him back into a lying position.

"Please!" Polaris frantically gasped as he struggled to sit up, "I have to get home! I can't be here for more than two days!"

"You've been out for three days." Nurse Redheart explained, desperate to calm Polaris. Her words hit Polaris like a brick. Three days. Polaris was utterly crestfallen, he could never return home. He stopped struggling against the nurse and simply lay there, staring straight ahead. Everything in the world stopped, his pain seemed to dull as the world spun slightly, tears stung his eyes. Polaris tried to say something that merely came out as a half-hearted "muh" before he passed out.

Polaris' sleep was heavily plagued by nightmares. He dreamed he could see his family standing by the glacial pass. His mother was crying softly, saying between sobs that she misses him so much. His father stood beside her, his face clearly showing remorse, but his stone facade showed courage. His friends were there as well, saying things like, "he should have been back by now," or, "I hope he's okay." Polaris tried to talk to them. To tell them that he was okay and that he loved them. No matter how hard he tried, however, no sound came out of his mouth. Suddenly, he began flying away. The voices of his loved ones faded and he found himself being flown back into his hospital bed. Polaris gasped loudly and coughed, sending a violent spasm of pain through his chest. Then it dawned on him, Polaris was alone. And he was scared.

Twilight Sparkle walked into the reception with Spike sitting on her back. "I'm here to see the pony that just arrived." She explained to the receptionist sitting behind the desk.

"It's the third room down the left hall." The receptionist said, motioning towards the hall.

"Thanks." Twilight said as she started down the hall. She hoped the pony in the room was awake. No one knew his name or where he was from, so Twilight hoped she could get some information from him. She had heard he was awake and just had to meet the Pegasus that nearly killed her. As she approached the door, Spike dismounted from his position atop Twilight's back. They exchanged glances quickly before Twilight slowly opened the door. Slowly she entered and noticed the room looked similar to the one Rainbow Dash had stayed in when she broke her wing. On the bed lay a stallion with dark white, almost grey, hair over his body. The hair that lay on his head was straight, almost solid, jet black, with slight streaks of near pure white, and kept fairly short, hanging over his left eye. His deep-set eyes, at least the one Twilight could see, were a very dark brown with a certain era of uncertainty about them. He stared ahead, not really focusing on anything until after a second or two his eyes focused on Twilight, and he seemed to recognize her as if from some distant memory.

"Woah," The pony croaked, "you're alive? I thought you'd have fallen like I did."

"Nope," Twilight replied, smiling lightly, "I used my magic to take Spike and I safely to the ground." She made a show of making a purple light with her horn. "Sorry I couldn't catch you too." Twilight said. "I had no idea where you were."

"Don't worry about it," the other pony reassured, "I should have been watching where I was going. It was entirely my fault." He smiled softly and tried to make it look like he could laugh it off, but the look in his eyes contrasted sharply. "My name is Polaris, by the way. What's your name?" Polaris asked in a rather quiet voice.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight explained, smiling. She motioned towards Spike, "This is Spike. He's a baby dragon." Spike jumped up at the edge of the bed, waving.

"Hi there!" Spike exclaimed. "You really had us scared when you crashed into us!" Spike started to recall the events of the crash, adding the occasional sound effect like to the effect of Zoom! Or Crash-bang!

For about half an hour Polaris and Twilight chatted, exchanging stories about things like friends and tales about their adventures. Polaris had learned that Twilight had five best friends, whose names he couldn't remember, she actually hatched Spike, and she was very proficient in all types of magic, something Polaris had never really heard of. He hated talking about himself, but felt he owed Twilight his story. Polaris began with how he was named, a story his mother told him many times when he was just a colt.

A long time ago, Polaris' mother loved to explore, just as he did. One unfortunate day, however, she got lost in the vast tundra. She was scared and alone, completely disoriented with no idea of where the village was.The sun had set and it was getting very cold as Polaris' mother began to panic. As the stars blinked silently to light, she stared up at the sky, admiring the graceful beauty of the twinkling lights. Suddenly, one out of the many stars burned brighter than the rest: Polaris, The North Star. In that moment, Polaris' mother remembered in that moment she had been told to trust the stars. Having faith in her teachings, she flew north, following the bright star. She arrived home the next day, very much to hers and half of the village's surprise. She never forgot that night and named her first and only son Polaris, in honor of the star.

Twilight listened to the story intently, occasionally quietly adding "Mhmm" but never really speaking up too much. Polaris noted just how very polite she was and how she didn't seem to mind his destroying her balloon. She probably felt bad for him, he figured. He really hoped she didn't feel bad. Polaris was saying something about his home when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a rainbow. A rainbow? That made no sense to Polaris, as it hadn't even rained recently. Just then he noticed the rainbow was short, and very fast moving.

"Oh," Twilight exclaimed, "that's my friend, Rainbow Dash. She's the best flyer I know. You two would probably get along." Polaris smiled at this. He wasn't good at it, and contrary to popular belief, he did quite enjoy making new friends. Twilight seemed to suddenly realize something and politely explained that she had to get back to the library to study for a test. She hastily prepared to leave but stopped at the door. "Welcome to Ponyville, by the way." She added over her shoulder.